18
karmak
7y

How do teenage devs find jobs?

Comments
  • 3
    We can’t. 😞

    Edit: at least I can’t.
  • 1
  • 7
    Freelancing :)
  • 3
    @just-basic-user exactly, everything I find requires a degree in computer science and a thousand years of experience :(
  • 22
    It's a common fact that all employers are looking for a 21yr old graduate with 40yrs of industry experience
  • 1
    If you've knowledge you can find it, I did but then I found freelancing.
  • 1
    @karmak Yeah, I am currently trying to attend a competition in Germany for real world projects(hoping someone will notice my skills) because here in Bulgaria all competitions are just theoretical tests(pen and paper) for c++/vb.
  • 8
    When i was a teenagers i did work as an online freelancer...i just used a pic of some 40 year old dude as my profile picture..

    And before you all freak out, i did tonnes of jobs with not a single unhappy client
  • 1
    Well me being 18 the path I took was just tinkering and playing around with things I found interesting to help build up a portfolio and experience. Contributing to open source is good too. Eventually I looked for freelance work online, try to sell them on how you'll help their project be better and what you can do for them. Don't basically just read then your resume. Eventually I felt more comfortable holding my own and started attending meetups in my area and networking. Break the stereotype or programmers being antisocial, plus going out of your way to attend meetups shows motivation and passion, if you're up for it maybe even give a talk at one to get your name out. You'll get further in your career through networking and the people you know vs just sending out resumes to anyone and everyone, but if sending resumes to the world is your thing I wouldn't stress much about the degree and experience part. Just make sure you have things that show off your skills and how you work.
  • 0
    It's illegal to discriminate against young candidates in most developed countries, but the numbers indicate that the younger an employee is, the less reliable he/she is. Sick days, sudden departures for things older people are less likely to do, owing to being statistically more tied down by things like family and expenses.

    It's not okay, I agree. I'm just trying to explain the reason employers are hesitant to hire young candidates.
  • 0
    I found mine with an internship in a small (3 employees) enterprise 💪💪
  • 2
    Through jihad
  • 2
    @Michelle hard to find freelance jobs when there are others who are better than u bc they have more experience ;-;
  • 0
    Usually using google, I guess.
  • 8
    1) Find a hoster with unlimited subdomains

    2) Install WordPress (Yes, WordPress 😉) and take some minutes to find a halfway goodlooking free theme.

    3) Open gMaps and look for small companies with none or a really bad websites (There are tonns of)

    4) Create a new subdomain with the name of the company and change the WP-Title to it.

    5) Go there (No eMail. You have to go there yourself. Otherways you wont have success!!!) and show it to them.

    6) They will be like "WOW THAT'S AMAZING! But we wont bei able to afford it." Because they think "this computer stuff is magic"

    7) You: "Yes, you can! It's only [Place some realistic number]$"
  • 1
    @nickj
    The key to be successful in freelancing is marketing. If you market better than the others, than you'll get more sales.
  • 1
    I got mine after internship that I did after 2nd year of studies.

    They were even kind enough to let me finish stationary studies - was rough to work 8h and go to Uni too, but I managed that 1.5 year.
  • 2
    @rhein7 have you already done this? Did it work?
  • 2
    @LucaIO Yes a few times for increasing my pocketmoney ;-) It worked exactly like I explained. One "client" was even a small computer-repair company
  • 1
    @rhein7 Wow! I'm 14 and some more pocket money would be nice :)
  • 1
    @LucaIO
    I did it when I was 15 so feel free to try and share your results!
  • 0
    Work on some open source projects and apply so you have some proof.
  • 0
    @rhein7 that sounds like a pretty good idea! I'll be definitely looking into that. How much do you charge for it?
  • 1
    @rhein7 I like that strategy but if they are like "umm no" then it was a wasted effort.
  • 0
    @karmak It really depends on the customer. Even of you get 20$ or less, you have one more customer, who maybe recommend your "skills" 😂
  • 0
    @nblackburn
    Yes, but it's really not much wasted efford. You have the same design everytime again!
  • 1
    @rhein7 If you had any respect for the carrer you are in and the clients you work for, you wouldn't want that.
  • 0
    Here's my advice: do whatever you like, do it in your free time, do what makes your life better.

    My carreer began with a Windows Phone 8.1 app for my favourite podcast. Dedicated only to that podcast, which I really love to listen to 'til this day, I created it so that I don' t have to separately download them (the podcaster released the .mp3's) with the 'script' which contained links for topics discussed at specific timestamps, the app did it for me. I sent it to the creator of the podcast, he liked it,and we began to work on an Android version. Then I got an assignment from his friend to make a client for a web app. That being made I got another one from the friend of that friend, while eventuall, found myself at a very nice company, for which I'm the CTO for more than a year now.

    This is just under 5 years. I was 18 when I made the podcast app. All was just because I found motivation in making what I already liked more comfortable.
  • 0
    You can always get a questionable freelance job building basic sites for local restaurants and hairdressers.

    But one-off projects like that leads you to a ton stories worthy of posting on clientsFromHell.

    It’s one way to build your first resume though.
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